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Where Are They Now: Galacticos

When Florentino Perez started his first term as Real Madrid's President in 2000, he created a new policy of signing a galactico (superstar), or the best player in the world at the end of every season, no matter how much money it would take. This policy began the period in Real Madrid’s history known as the Galacticos Era.

Zidane still has hair! ...but why is his shorts so… short?

The principal Galacticos were:

Luis Figo: retired on May 2009

Zinedine Zidane: retired after the 2006 World Cup

Ronaldo: recently retired (February 2011)

David Beckham: playing for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer

Post Galactico Careers:

Luís Figo: joined Real Madrid in 2000 for £38.7 million from Barcelona FC

Figo left Real Madrid to join Intern Milan on a free transfer on the summer of 2005 when his contract with RM expired. He stayed with the club until his retirement. His last game was against Atalanta, and captained the team (at the insistence of then skipper, Javier Zanetti). He received a standing ovation from the crowd as he was substituted in the match.

Still a fixture in the football world, Figo was briefly a joint seat holder for A1 Team Portugal and in A1 Grand Prix (in the 2005–06 season). He was on the sidelines when Inter Milan won the Champions League on May 2010. He is Inter Milan’s ambassador for functions across Europe and a board member of the club’s charity project, Inter Campus.

He now owns an upscale bar in the Algarve region of Portugal and an ambassador for the Stop TB Partnership in the fight against tuberculosis

Zinedine Zidane: joined Real Madrid in 2001 for £46 million from Juventus FC

Zidane ended his career with Real Madrid, after the 2006 World Cup. Since his retirement, Zidane regularly plays for the Real Madrid Veterans team and made several futsal appearances.

He became an Advisor to Florentino Perez in his 2^nd term as Real Madrid President in 2009. Zidane is one of the key decision makers on the sporting side of the club.

On September 2010, he was appointed to be Qatar's ambassador for their bid to host the 2022 World Cup. By November, Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho appealed to Zidane to work with the first team, so he was appointed as a special adviser where he is expected to participate in Champions League events and functions. He would also to travel with the first team on a regular basis and participate in pre-match gatherings, training sessions and meetings with the head coach.

Ronaldo: joined Real Madrid in 2002 for £30 million from Inter Milan

Ronaldo transferred to AC Milan on the early part of January 2007, forcing him to pay for the remaining period on his contract with Real Madrid as the club did not want to release him. Due to recurring injury problems and weight issues, Ronaldo rarely played on matches and was only with the club for one season. On February 2008, he suffered a severe knee injury, rupturing his kneecap and had to be taken directly to the hospital. His contract with the club was not renewed after the season ended.

After recovering from his knee surgery, he trained with Flamengo prompting fans to speculate that he would sign with the club as he had publicly declared himself a Flamengo lover and had promised to defend the club. However, by end of 2009, he unexpectedly signed a one year deal with Flamengo’s league rival, Corinthians. He extended his contract with the club for another year and said he would then retire. After their club was eliminated from the 2011 Copa Libertadores, Ronaldo officially announced his retirement from football in a very emotional press con. He admitted that the injuries he sustained throughout his career have finally caught up with him.

Since 2005, Ronaldo has been the co-owner of A1 Team Brazil.

David Beckham: joined Real Madrid in 2003 for £25 million from Manchester United

Early 2007, Beckham’s contract with RM was not renewed. He then signed with the Los Angeles Galaxies for a 5-year contract (for me, this does not bode well for him as European players usually transfer to MLS when their career has passed its peak… remember Thiery Henry, Franz Beckenbauer, Lothar Matthaus? even Pele went the MLS route). Since his signing, he was loaned to AC Milan for two seasons.

He missed the latest World Cup due to suffering from a torn Achilles tendon and instead worked as a mediator between management and the national squad becoming a member of the coaching staff for the England national football team.

During the early part of this year, he trained with Tottenham Hotspurs and there was talk that there might be another club loan for Beckham.

Other RM players who were also considered galacticos even though they were already with the team when Perez became president are:

Raul (product of RM Youth Team): left the club on July 2010 and now plays for Schalke 04

Iker Casillas (product of RM Youth Team): still plays for Real Madrid on a lifetime contract

Roberto Carlos: left RM on March 2007, played for Fenerbahce for two years. In 2010 he signed with Corinthians, playing alongside Ronaldo. Days before Ronaldo announced retirement, Roberto Carlos signed with FC Anzhi Makhachkala of the Russian Premiere League

The Galacticos era initially began as a success with the club winning the 2001 and 2003 Champions League. But it after signing the last galactico (I guess I was right in thinking when they signed Beckham that he would be the ruin of RM, haha!) had started the trophy draught for the club, failing to progress in European football or attain domestic success. To this day, it has yet to go beyond the Round of 16 stage of the Champions League.

Click here and here to for an interesting read on the downfall (too many egos, loosing one of the best defensive players, sacking of Del Bosque, releasing great players because they were “not pretty enough”) of Florentino’s ostentatious plan to showcase the world’s greatest players in one formidable Dream Team.

Even though the Galactico Policy did not make Real Madrid the champions in their league and in Europe, one thing you can credit it for is making the club one of the richest in the world. Maybe Perez is a shrewd businessman but I guess a shrewd businessman does not make a winning team.

With his second term as Real Madrid President, Perez seems to be making another batch of galacticos with Ozil, Kaka, Cronaldo, Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema. Will they learn their lesson this time and balance the team with the right amount of offense and defense?

Ronaldo Retires

One of football's greats officially retired from the game today. Brazilian superstar, "Il Fenomeno" Ronaldo announced his retirement in a very emotional press con .

Wiith all the injuries plaguing his career and his struggle with hypothyroidism, I thought he had already retired for a few years now... It's a sad day in football world when one of it's great players hang up his boots. For such an amazing player (a legend, I would say), it's sad the way he left the game...

3-time FIFA world player of the year

Watch the very emotional video of the press con

Check out the links for a more in depth story:

How retired Ronaldo fell out of love with the game he once dominated
Ronaldo: Goodbye To A Legend
Ronaldo May Be Leaving, but His Joy Lingers
Brazil soccer legend Ronaldo retires
Ronaldo in tears as he leaves football
Ronaldo Calls Time

WAGs: Caroline Celico

Behind every great man, is a woman. Or so they say. I have always been fascinated about the women who captured the hearts of football’s greatest players. So I decided to do a little digging into the women who are collectively called WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends of Football Players).

Trolling through the internet, I found out that there are a lot of sites that are devoted to women behind the footballer. Most of the sites rank them by hotness (the pics were soo NSFW, I was afraid someone would see my screen and think I was visiting some porn site!). Based from the sites I’ve visited, you’d think that to be a WAG, you either had to be a model (and I mean this term loosely as any type will do: fashion, glamour or Page 3), a beauty queen (doesn’t have to be a major pageant like Ms Universe), an actress (wanna-be, reality star or legit “actor”) or dancer/showgirl.

Looking thru all the sizzling photos with all their bountiful, um, assets provocatively displayed, they eventually began to resemble each other. Yes, they were all hot as hell, but it was rare to find a WAG who was decently clothed. So I decided to look for the “normal” WAGs. Normal meaning their current or previous job description did not include posing with very little clothes on or have done a nudie calendar/photo shoot.

So here is my first post for my WAG series...

they kinda look like each other, don't they?

Full Name: Caroline Celico

Married to: Kaká (of Real Madrid and Brazil)

Birthday: July 26, 1987 (making her 23 years old today)

Date Married: December 23, 2005

Kids: Luca Celico Leite (son born June 10, 2008)

Last December 8 2010, Kaká announced on twitter that Celico was 4 months pregnant
with their second child, a daughter.

friends of this stunner would say she is shy

Who is she?

Maybe because this Brazilian beauty didn’t pose nude or in barely there clothes, she was only ranked number 90 in some WAG list. But I bet if there’s a ranking for the nicest WAG, she would probably top the list. People who know her say she’s humble, sincere and classy.

This hottie is (surprise, surprise!) a pastor (well, okay, knowing the God-fearing Brazilian superstar Kaká, maybe this isn’t a shocking titbit). She was recently inducted as a pastor in their Evangelist denomination Renascer em Cristo or Reborn in Christ by its church founder Sônia Hernandes last 2009.

She stands 5 foot 6 inches

Her father is Celso Celico is a businessman and Christian Dior’s

Brazil

Representative while her mother, Rosangela Lyra Celico, is a famous socialite known for her church work and charities. She has a brother named Enrico.

She studied at St Paul’s School and graduated before marrying Kaká.

She is a devout Christian like her hubby and sometimes she sings with her church’s choir. She recently the released her first CD entitled, Carol Celico, with the songs available for free downloads in her site. Don’t worry, she is not a wanna-be singer as she created this project to spread a positive message to people. The CD has 12 songs and one of them was written by Kaká.

This fresh-faced cutie is very passionate about cooking

She can speak French, English, Spanish, Italian and certainly Portuguese. She is currently attending a university in Milan for a degree in fashion business.

How they met…

they were both Christians in the same church, Rebirth in Christ, when they met

She met Kaká when she was in high school in 2001 and he was already playing for Sao Paulo FC at this time. In 2002, they became really good friends and started dating. They did the whole long distance relationship thing when Kaká had to move to

Italy

in 2003 and she had to finish her studies. They would get to meet when Kaká would visit Brazil on short trips. Most articles I’ve read call them childhood sweethearts. I agree that Caroline would qualify in that statement, she being 13 when they met, but, uh, he was 19 (0.o) …I would say they had some sort of May-December romance going on. Don’t worry, she was legal when they married in 2005... well, barely as she was 18… If you’re interested, there’s a music video celebrating the couple's romance in youtube.

apparently, Kaka sang the song, I don't really know...

Trivia and other interesting tidbits:

Kaká was reportedly a virgin when he said "I do". Their wedding, at the Reborn in Christ Church in Sao Paulo, was attended by Cafu, Ronaldo, Adriano, Dida, Julio Baptista and Carlos Alberto Parreira.

It took a while for the couple to conceive as Carol has polycystic ovaries.

with their son, Luca

On a way different note, Renascer em Cristo or Rebirth in Christ, the couple’s church is never far from controversy. Their church leader, Sônia Hernandes, was imprisoned in 2007 for smuggling cash into the

USA

. Currently the Brazilian government is looking for her for tax evasion charges. Kaká was even questioned by authorities for an alleged 2M Brazilian Reals donation to the church in 2007.

If you know how to read Spanish, Caroline has a blog (or is that Portuguese? Is there a difference?).

For those who were hoping to see the NSFW pics I mentioned and read through my post up to this point, as a reward, you can see all the top 10 or top 13 or top 100 Football WAGs and their NSFW pics by can clicking here (careful when you check this one, soo NSFW), here, here and here (there are still many more sites, but I leave that up to you to search for them =P)

Here are photos of Kaká and Luca as they're just too cute not to post:

Kaka's mini-me

Where are they now?: Fabien Barthez

This post category is inspired by those E! True Hollywood Story type of shows where they show child stars post-Hollywood fame. This is my version of Where Are They Now? where I will try to track down legendary players of yesteryears and find out where and what they are doing now. I’m not the greatest researcher so there may be info that I may miss out or make mistakes on, so I’m open to all helpful suggestions and comments J

The first footballer I’ll feature in this category is Fabien Barthez. Why him? Well, the Waka-waka video from my previous Shakira-Piqué post, made me wonder where Barthez is now. Is he still playing in Europe? Or did he follow what most great European football players do before hanging up their studs—play for the MLS.

So, who is Fabian Barthez?

the formidable protector of the post

He is one of football’s famous (or is it infamous?) bald-headed goalkeepers. This retired French goalkeeper’s career can be described as part brilliant and part cringe-worthy. Some love him, some hate him. When he’s good, he’s spectacular. But when his bad, it’s awful. Fans who love this endearing goalie know all about his incredible reaction and crucial saves due to his remarkable sense of anticipation. His critics, however, would say that this accident-prone keeper’s clumsy and sometimes comic ineptitude has cost a lot of significant conceded goals.

Here what I dug up all about the magnetic Fabien Barthez:

Full Name: Fabien Alain Barthez

Birthday: June 28, 1971 (making him 39 years old today)

Position: Goalkeeper

Height: 6’

National Team: France

Club Career:

Toulouse FC – 1991 to 1992

Olympique Marseille – 1992 to 1995

AS Monaco FC – 1995 to 2000

Manchester United – 2000 to 2004 (he signed with the club for £7.8 million, a British record for a keeper at that time)

Olympique Marseille – 2004 to 2006

FC Nantes Atlantique – 2007 (for only four months)

Titles Won:

France lifted the World Cup trophy in 1998

Ligue 1 titles in 1997 and 2000 (Monaco)

Champions League 1993 (Marseille)

FIFA World Cup 1998 (France)

Euro 2000 (France)

Noteworthy FIFA World Cup Appearances:

1998 FIFA World Cup – Champion (vs Brazil)

During the finals match, Barthez made a stunning save on Brazilian superstar Ronaldo which resulted in Ronaldo’s injury. This save was also flashed in the Waka-waka video, around the 00:55 mark.

Barthez torpedoes into Ronaldo (on different note, wow. Look at those thigh muscles!)

2006 FIFA World Cup – Runners Up (vs Italy)

The finals is the notorious (and maybe even legendary) match where the Zidane head-butt happened. After extra time still resulting to a draw, the match ended in a penalty shoot out. Both goalies failed to make a single save but France ultimately lost when its striker, David Trezeguet missed his chance, the only penalty taker who did so. Barthez’ final missed save of Fabio Grosso’s shot that sealed Italy’s victory is shown in the opening scene of Shakira’s Waka-waka music video, the official track of the 2010 World Cup. (I actually saw the live telecast of this game, it was nerve-racking to watch!)

Interesting Trivia:

Before Iker Casillas became the Youngest Goalkeeper to Win a Champions League Title—there was Barthez. This was when his team won against Milan in the 1993 Champions League Finals. His performance in this game was one of the best ever seen for a goalkeeper.

He is known for his eccentric antics and playing mind games to opposition players taking a penalty. Two instances are when during a penalty, instead of taking the “goalkeeping position” (don’t really know the technical term for that), he stood aside from the goal, with his hands behind him on the post refusing to defend the goal.

Barthez became the France number one keeper in February 1997 replacing Bernard Lama when he was tested positive for cannabis and Barthez held on to this spot for almost a decade (with a 6-month lapse when he was suspended)

He is a FIFA World Cup record-holder of Most Clean Sheets with 10 (number matches without conceding a goal), sharing this title with Peter Shilton

He had a head-kissing ritual with national team-mate and good friend, Laurent Blanc which they performed at the start of Champions League matches as well as during the 1998 World Cup for good luck

kissing the bald head for good ju-ju

During his career, Barthez had two long spells out of the game: a four-month ban for the use of recreational drugs in 1996 and a six-month suspension for spitting at a referee during a brawl that caused when a player was sent off.

WAG Info:

Wife: Aurelie Barthez (June 16, 2004 to present) whom he as two sons with, Lenny Barthez (born June 22, 2003) and Aldo Barthez (born December 21, 2007)

He dated Canadian supermodel Linda Evangelista from 1998 to 2000. She suffered a miscarriage after 6 months of pregnancy with his baby

Barthez with then GF, Linda Evangelista

Retirement:

1^st Retirement: It was on the latter part of 2006 when after losing the World Cup title to Italy, he was still without a club since he left Marseille at the end of last season. He wanted to return to his first club, Toulouse, so he can be close enough to take care of his sick mother. But the club did not want to take him. He stilled hoped to play professionally for another two years but stated that if he couldn’t find another club by end of August 2006, he would not carry on with football. By October, it was confirmed that he had retired.

2^nd Retirement: He came out of retirement in January 2007 when he was brought in to bolster FC Nantes Atlantique’s fight against relegation. Because of Barthez’s trademark blunders, five of the club’s fans kicked his car as he left the Beaujoire stadium after a game. One fan then tried to open his car door and Barthez got out of his car and the pair was involved in an altercation. They had to be broken up by security staff. No longer feeling safe, Barthez had left the city with his family and confirmed that he had quit the team. He was still looking for another club to play for and was linked with numerous clubs but nothing has ever materialized and since then has never played professional football again.

He left football not without a fight, literally. A few say it was a fitting way for the flamboyant player to go out— center of attention, amidst controversy and certainly not without a whimper. Some critics say he went out a laughing stock, fans believed he was denied of the chance to recapture the best part of his legacy.

So where is he now?

When Barthez retired from professional football in the summer of 2007, he has said on more than one occasion, that he would want to return to the footballing world as a coach.

On January 25, 2008, after and interview with Setanta Sports, Barthez had said he planned to race Porscge GT 3s and play beach football in the future.

On April 2008, Barthez resurfaced with plans on start a goalkeeping academy with former goalkeeper and Toulouse manager Elie Baup. Up to this day, nothing has come out of that plan.

He has made the news lately, when fellow Frenchman and former United star Eric Cantona became the director of soccer at the New York Cosmos just this year. Barthez has stated that likes the idea of joining Cantona in the US. He has hinted that he is interested in getting involved with the New York Cosmos as a goalkeeper coach.

Eric Cantona, new Soccer Director for the New York Cosmos

Will be seeing the charismatic, bald-headed goalkeeper in the MLS anytime soon?

Matches of the Century: Tournoi de France 1997 Italia Brasil

Second day
8 June 1997
Stade de Gerland, Lyon
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: Serge Muhmenthaler

The most memorable match of the Tournoi de France was the 3-3 draw between Italy and Brazil, which included two goals from then 22-year-old Alessandro Del Piero and one goal apiece from Romário and Ronaldo as well as one own goal from each of the teams. Del Piero was the top goalscorer of the tournament with three goals scored while Romário scored twice.

Brasil: Taffarel - Cafu, Célio Silva, Aldair, Roberto Carlos, Mauro Silva (Flávio Conceição), Dunga, Denílson, Leonardo, Romário, Ronaldo

Italia: Pagliuca, Panucci, Cannavaro, Costacurta, Maldini (Di Livio) - Di Matteo, Albertini, Dino Baggio (Fuser), Lombardo - Vieri (Inzaghi), Del Piero